NH EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS CONFERENCE

​​​BLOCK D 3:30-4:45 Concurrent Session Descriptions

​​​D1. The Essentials of Evacuation PlanningFULLLevel: Basic Intended Audience: Health Care/Behavioral Health/Public Health (This presentation is designed to assist long term care facilities in the development of evacuation plans in an all hazards all risk environment.)

This session will give an overview of the 2017 CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule and its requirements for all-hazards emergency planning, with a focus on long-term care facilities. The session will also cover the Nursing Home Incident Command System and review preparations for an evacuation table top exercise, including the essential components of the planning and a sample plan. Representatives from agencies that collaborated to conduct a full scale exercise will describe the planning process, priority focus areas for the exercise, lessons learned from the exercise, and what improvement actions were identified.

Team Rubicon will share its experience as a disaster response organization during Hurricanes Harvey and Maria. This session will also discuss how Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster response organization, approaches resiliency and wellness to promote the physical and mental health of its volunteers through training, physical fitness programs, community service projects, and partnerships. The goal of this session is to promote discussion of strategies for building resiliency and wellness for anyone involved in disaster response activities and share best practices that may be implemented in NH and other regional emergency response groups.

The purpose of this session is to review existing climate resilience-related information and explore opportunities for improved resilience through connecting scientific research with emergency preparedness efforts. The session will be moderated by members of NH’s Coastal Adaptation Workgroup who work to improve the connection between coastal community needs and research interests in resilience.

This session will describe the many ways the National Weather Service (NWS) provides weather information, from weather radio broadcasts to decision support services. Topics covered will include observed weather, forecast weather, decision support services, the new enhanced hazardous weather outlook, and tips for navigating the NWS website. A case study of the 3/2/2018 East Coast Storm will be used to demonstrate the resources available to emergency managers, first responders, and government officials.

Presented by: Hendricus Lulofs, Meteorologist in Charge, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration / National Weather Service

This presentation will provide an overview of the NH Fish and Game Department, including the agency’s mission statement, history, organizational structure, and funding, with an emphasis on the Law Enforcement Division. Discussion will include duties of Conservation Officers, statewide search and rescue (SAR), specialized SAR teams, and the State Emergency Operation Center’s (SEOC’s) role and responsibilities. The presentation will conclude with a discussion regarding the "North Woods Law: NH" television series, as seen on Animal Planet, and featuring Conservation Officers of the NH Fish and Game Department.

Panelists:

Major Jim Juneau, Conservation Officer, Assistant Chief of Law Enforcement, NH Fish and Game Department

When municipalities face natural or manmade disasters impacting animals such as large-scale animal cruelty cases and severe weather events, the logistics of response is typically complicated and costly. What resources do you need to plan for to respond to the needs of pets and pet owners in YOUR community? What other agencies should you involve in your planning and response efforts? What is your authority and obligation to shelter pets following a disaster or animal cruelty seizure? In this session, we’ll discuss how to include pets in your local emergency planning efforts, best practices for pet sheltering and cooperation with other agencies, and what resources (e.g., equipment and MOUs) are available at the local-, state-, and national-level to help you with this special needs population.

First responders such as firefighters and police have some of the most dangerous occupations. In the fire service alone, half of all line of duty deaths are a result of stress and overexertion during emergency operations. Rest between tasks, fluid intake, medical monitoring, and decontamination procedures are well documented best practices to reduce first responder death, injury, and long-term effects. Nonetheless, response agencies struggle to provide Emergency Incident Rehabilitation due to insufficient staffing and lack of trained crews. Volunteer groups, including CERT and MRC, can provide this vital service and, in doing so, energize and engage their volunteers in local responses.

In this session, participants will be introduced to the process of Emergency Incident Rehabilitation, see a demonstration of the rehabilitation skills, and review how volunteer groups can integrate into emergency response systems to provide rehabilitation. This program is designed for medical and non-medical participants.

The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 created the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), after years of Congressional advocacy by public safety. The law gives FirstNet the mission to ensure the building, deployment, and operation of the first high-speed, nationwide wireless broadband network with spectrum dedicated to public safety. In March 2017, FirstNet awarded its core contract to AT&T to enhance the network and provide a collaborative work environment between FirstNet, AT&T, and first responders throughout the nation as construction begins. NH is engaged in this effort that will provide increased LTE (cell & data) communication services to Public Safety agencies throughout the State.

This session will describe a common sense approach to recognizing, prioritizing, and addressing potential threats to emergency response preparedness before and during emergencies.

Presented by:

Michael Penney, PE, Senior Engineer, GeoInsight, Inc.

Michael Nereson, PE, Senior Engineer, GeoInsight, Inc.

Lorilee Mather, PE, Senior Project Engineer, GeoInsight, Inc.

D10. Best Practices for Mail Screening and Handling Processes & Basic Structural Blast Mitigation MethodsLevel: Basic Intended Audience: All (For people who perform risk management, and who are responsible for security.)

This session will provide a survey of best practices for mail screening and handling and provide a basic review of methods and practices used to strengthen structures against blast damage.

Rapid assessment of damage is critical to resource allocation during and after incidents. Survey123 for ArcGIS provides a simple and versatile solution to help address these needs. This session will examine the implementation of Survey 123 on the White Mountain National Forest during the October 30, 2017 flooding event as a case study. Discussion will include the use of Survey123 to record the location and type of road and trail damage, and illustrate the ability of this technology to share results quickly with decision makers to facilitate real-time adjustments to disaster response.

Learn how emergency management and community organization leaders forged a (previously non-existent) public-private partnership to stand-up an emergency shelter for homeless and housing-insecure people in response to a sustained arctic cold event in late December 2017. Presenters will share the developments that led to shelter opening and describe the unprecedented, quasi-traditional, multi-agency response that led to safely sheltering over 100 people (many with mental health or substance use needs) and connecting more than 60 people to social service supports during the 15-day event. Lessons learned related to traditional emergency shelter planning and operational efforts will be shared.